that coverage begins at 5:40 p.m. eastern time. we will talk to the bureau of labor statistics and an economics reporter about jobs and unemployment figures. host: now with your turn to react to the vice presidential debate in kentucky. we will put the numbers on the screen. we want to hear from you on last night's highs and lows and who you think was the winner.

you can also contact us electronically on twitter. you can also send an e-mail or contact us on facebook. here is some reaction in the newspapers from last night --

that was "politico's" tale. -- take. here's the cnn poll --

that's from cnn this morning. here's the hill -- that's just a little bit from the the hill newspaper. now it's your turn.

we want to hear your views on how. last night when it we begin in ypsilanti, michigan, on our support president obama line. hi, lovada. caller: thanks for taking my call. i watched the debate and i learned a little more about mr. ryan, but i was especially proud of vice president biden because he hit the issues. and, again, i was reminded that although i have not forgotten, that i've been a 47% that mr. romney is not interested in. the debate went very well for mr. biden. host: thanks for calling. here's the front page of "the huffington post" online. and we want to show you the daily caller.

i guess we don't have that one quite ready. next, bill in massachusetts on our republican line. caller: good morning. first, i felt martha raddatz did an excellent job. at times it seemed like ryan was debating two people, the moderator and that joe biden. ryan still kept his cool and did a great job. biden is the reincarnation of harold stasstzen. his incessant interrupting, smirks, giggles and laughing at ryan, he was trying to sucker right into losing his temper, but ryan did not fall for that.

an embarrassing display of buffoonery. i am interested to see what mr. obama's supporters will say today, their tone. i think they will be running scared. host: this morning we are using span2012 if you would like to make a comment on twitter about last night's debate. from "the huffington post" --

next call comes from canada in philadelphia on our support president obama line. caller: how are you? host: good. turn down your tv and go ahead. i will put you on hold and we will come back to you. we will go to jerry in missouri on our support mitt romney line. caller: how are you? host: good. caller: i would like to voice my concerns for the seniors we know who are losing their health care

because of obamacare. my father is a korean veteran. these people are suffering because of what obama has done. he has not helped our veterans whatsoever. it is a shame that we elected him. that's what my dad fought for. for every human being in the world to have their right to get out and vote. i want for each and every person to do that this election time to show how you feel about what's going on. host: back to canada in philadelphia on the support president obama line. -- to kenneth. caller: i tuned in yesterday and to the debate. host: we are listening. caller: i am a strong supporter

of biden and he did a really good job last night. the situation we are living in, we need to expand the poverty level. i really cannot understand where ryan was coming from. i think we should [in distinguishable] host: here is the headline from the daily caller -- and the drudge report --

the media mystified over joe biden's smile. here is a little of last night's debate on taxes. [video clip] >> the middle class will pay less and people making a million dollars will begin to attributed -- to contribute slightly more. the continuation of the bush tax cuts, we argued those tax cuts for the wealthy should be allowed to expire. of those, 800 million billion dollars of that goes to people making car minimum of $1 billion. we see no justification in these economic times, they are not

asking for this continued tax cut, but my friends are insisting on it. if 120,000 families, by continuing that tax cuts, will get an additional $500 billion in tax relief over the next 10 years and their income is an average of $8 million. we want to expend the middle class tax cut permanently. these guys will not allow us to. in the senate we say let's have a vote on middle-class tax cuts and the upper class tax cut and let's vote on it. >> our entire premise of the tax reform plans is to grow the economy and create jobs. it's a plan estimated to create 7 million jobs. we think that the government taking a 28% of a family or business. income is business president obama thinks the government ought to be able to take as much as 44.8% of a small business's income.

if you tax every person and successful small business making over to hundred $50,000 at 100% it would only run the government 90 days. we would still have a $300 billion deficit. there are not enough rich people to tax to pay for all of their spending. watch out, middle-class, the tax issues are coming to you. host: joseph is in our jacksonville, florida line, in support of president obama. caller: good morning. i enjoyed the debate. several things caught my eye with vice president biden's. he did a lot of laughing and smirking.

some of it was called for and some was not. going back to last week, watching romney tell those untruths, i believe he had to do some of that because the only thing paul ryan was doing was complementing what romney was doing, which was lying. so i believe biden had to interrupt because there were times when things ryan was saying did not make any sense. the 47%, they cannot clarify the that this really has hurt a lot of people by what they have said and they cannot live up to that. then president obama gets in office the first day and the republicans say we will do everything we can to make sure you are one-term president.

how can you get things done when on your first day they refuse to help him? it's not like he can come across the aisle. they have already dropped him. americans need to wake up and see that this is just a thing where the republicans will make sure they say or do whatever they can to make sure obama is not elected. he has done things for the republican side of america as well as the democratic side. host: we will leave it there and move on to michael in columbus, georgia, on our mitt romney line. caller: house is going -- how is it going? host: good. caller: truly amazing how both vice-presidential candidates can get asked a question and give a

10 minute to answer that does not answer the question at all. host: what do you mean? caller: they just try to avoid the whole question by giving an answer that supports their side, but don't really give an answer to the actual question. host: stanley is in fort washington, just south of d.c. caller: i thought joe biden was excellent. he was polished and hit on a lot of key points. i thought ryan was evasive and allied a lot -- and lied a lot. i see president obama as a person in office but it stopped when he tries to get things

through congress. i feel the democrats take the high road. the lady it narrating the debate was giving ryan more time to express himself. the majority of the time bus production biden tried to speak, she would allow him to speak half the time. then when he would elaborate on certain issues, i thought that he knocked it out of the part to put the congressman in his place. i thought that he was very evasive about dancing around joe biden and joe biden appeared to be a lot more groomed. host: that was stan lee in fort washington, maryland. we have received several weeks on this issue -- tweets --

one of the questions last night was on afghanistan. [video clip] >> the fact is we went there for one reason, to get those people who killed americans -- al qaeda. we have decimated cockeyed central. we have eliminated osama bin laden. that was our purpose-- we have decimated al qaeda central. we said that we would help train

the afghan military. it's their responsibility to take over their own security. that's why with 49 of our allies in afghanistan we have agreed on the gradual drawdown so we are out of there by the year 20 -- in the year 2014. my friend says it is based on conditions. it does not depend, for us. it is the responsibility of the afghans to take care of their own security. we have trained over 315,000 mostly without incident. there have been more than two dozen cases of green on blue, where americans have been killed. if the measures the military have taken do not take hold, we will not go on joint patrols, we will not trained in the field, we will only train in the army bases that basesthere, but we are leaving. we are leaving in 2014.

in the process, we are going to be saving over the next 10 years another $800 billion. we have been in this war over a decade. the primary objective is almost completed. now all we are doing is putting the kabul government in a position to table to maintain their own security. it's their responsibility and not americans'. >> we want to make sure the 2014 is successful. that's why we want to make sure we give our commanders what they say they need to make it successful. we don't want to stay past 2014. if it was just this, i would feel like we would be able to call this a success, but it's not. what we are witnessing one return on our tv screens these days is the unraveling of the obama foreign policy. a broad, are growing bu but jobs are not growing here at home.

>> he says we are absolutely leaving in 2014. you are saying that is not an absolute? >> we say that because we don't want to broadcast to our enemies to put a date on your calendar and then come back. we do agree with the timeline and the transition, but what any administration will do in 2013 is assessed the situation to see how best to complete this timeline. host: at facebook you can also comment on last night's debate. here are some of the comments we have gotten --

robert in clifton, tennessee, on our support mitt romney line. what did you think? caller: i thought it was pretty much the draw. biden smirking did kind of bothered me a good bit.

other than that, i was undecided until the abortion topic. i have a hard time with the democrats's explanation. it's a woman's right to choose because it's her body, they say. if it's a person's body, why do i have to put my seat belt on when i get in my automobile, put on my helmet when on? on? or why not go to the local wal- mart and get whatever drug i want to put in my body? how come everybody else does not get to have that privilege over their own body? host: anita on our support president obama line in yazoo, mississippi. caller: good morning. i stopped the debate was wonderful. vice president biden did a very good job against paul ryan.

the abortion topic, with a woman were raped or had a disability or sickness, why should they not make a decision if they want to give life or end life? that's a woman's decision. obama has done a wonderful job. if they allow obama and other four-year term, i'm sure he can straighten out everything. everybody is pushing against obama about what's going on. they did not look at what the last president set up for him. it took him a full your years to get in there and will take another four years to get it straightened out. it everybody should lay off president obama and give him the right to they have given all other presidents to do things fairly. as far as welfare and food stamps, there's a lot of people that need that. because there are not enough jobs for everybody, something is

going to give. god sent obama in there and will work things out for the people. everybody needs to quit criticizing obama and let the vice president and the president do what needs to be done for everybody. i'm sure that he is smart enough and knows how to do it and can do it. he just needs the cooperation of the republicans and they refused to give him any helpful. host: that was in mississippi. abortion was the final question asked by martha. [video clip] >> i don't see how a person can separate their public from their private life or from their faith. our faith informs us in everything we do. my faith informs me about how to take care of the vulnerable or to make sure people have a chance in life. now, you want to ask why i am pro-life? it's not simply because of my catholic faith. that is a factor of course.

but it's also because of reason and science. i think about 10 and a half years ago my wife and i went to mercy hospital where i was born in janesville for our seven-week a ultrasound for our firstborn child. we saw that heartbeat. a little baby in the shape of a bean. to this day we have not b -- have nicknamed our firstborn child liza "bean." i believe life begins at conception. i know this is a difficult issue and i respect people who differ with me. but car policy will be to oppose abortion with the exception of rape in ofcest, and -- incest, rape, and the life of the

mother. look at what they are doing in obamacare with respect to assaulting a religious liberties in this country. they are infringing on the freedom of religion by infringing on catholic charities, catholic churches, catholic hospitals. our church should not have to sue our federal government to maintain religious liberties. with respect to abortion, the democratic party said that they wanted it to be safe, legal, and rare. now they support it without restrictions and with taxpayer funding. the vice president went to china and said that he sympathized or would not second- guess their one-child policy of forced abortions and sterilization. that's pretty extreme. >> my religion defines who i am. i have been a practicing catholic my whole life. it is particularly -- has

particularly informed my social doctrine. the catholic doctrine talks about taking care of those who cannot take care of themselves, people who need help. with regard to abortion, i accept my church's position on abortion as life begins at conception. i accept that in my personal life, but i refused to impose that on equally devout christians, muslims, jews. unlike my friend, congressman. have at believe that' we right to tell other people that -- women that they cannot control their body. it's a decision between them and their doctor. i will not intervene wit -- interfere with the supreme court decision.

as far as my opinion, no religious institution, catholic or otherwise, none has to do prefer contraception or pay for contraception or be a vehicle to get contraception in any insurance policy they provide. that is a fact. in regard to the way we differ, my friend says that he -- i guess he accepts governor romney's position now, because in past he has argued that there is rape and forcible rape and that it would be a crime to engage in an abortion even in rape or forcible rape or incest.

i fundamentally disagree with that. host: we will be showing snippets throughout the morning from the debate last night. this is from the daily caller. a reaction on cnn -- here's "usa today" --

that the lead editorial. and here's the wall street journal" lead editorial --

now back to your calls on our support mitt romney line, arlene in santa cruz, california. caller: good morning. i have gotten a lot out of both of these debates. i see there is a clear difference. what i have seen in four years of the obama administration, it is an empty suit and never has had a plan and has been destroying this country. they wheeled out the court jester joe last night to do his shtick and he did it well with all the smirking and by rolling -- eye rolls.

it is sad to see that all they have is to put on performances as opposed to what i have been seeing and hearing with romney and ryan -- absolute adults, professionals taking this administration to task over what they've done to this country. and i would say having very concise plans. until you get into the weeds of what's has been grinding away the last four years, you don't know how to plan definitively until you get in the hot seat. so i say bravo to ryan for being did all last night and for taking on the task of being the vice president in this highly explosive situation we are in right now. that's basically what i have to

say. host: dennis day on the line 4 minutes? -- can you stay on the line for one minute? danny is in west palm beach florida, an obama supporter. give us your opinion of last night's debate. caller: thank you. i totally disagree with that lady on the line from california. too much is placed on the style of joe biden. he was a good debater. he had the facts about this administration versus paul ryan, who talks about what he wants to do, and we have heard that before when george bush ran. what he wanted to do and then we saw what happened there. biden laid out the facts he that

obama has put into place. we are not moving fast enough, but we are moving in a positive direction it. host: stay on the line, danny. ?hat's your reaction, arlene caller: i don't feel there's a lot of substance to the current administration. i do feel biden came out with comments that were adult at times, but whether they are factual and true is another subject. he has the ammunition, but i don't believe he has the heart, nor does this administration. this administration, i believe, from what i've read of obama and reading his books, just go to his books and you will find that is not about america. he's about other issues that are to tear apart this country.

was night's date, i think, very, very telling. again, i will go back to the smirking and gyrations that joe biden was going through were just entertainment and fluff, does like most of the four years he has been vice president. he has danced around issues and absolute fact that needs to be addressed. host: danny, what do you think about what she had to say? >> i judge people based on what they have done and not what they're planning to do. host: we appreciate your time this morning. ellie in south carolina, what did you think of last night's

debate, on the mitt romney line? caller: hi, i just think biden was a bully. i thought as americans we were supposed to be against bullying. the other thing is the whole obama administration has done nothing but raise taxes on middle-class. i am a middle-class person and my tax cut was gone out of my check when he went into office. unemployment has gone up. if we follow the democratic thinking, social security will be gone for my age group. medicare will be gone for my parents. this president has said that our constitution is just a guideline that can be worked around. these are issues that i'm appalled by as an american.

last night it was just another prime example of how his administration wants to bully the american people and take over with complete government control. host: that was south carolina. session wext s will switch the phone lines a little. we did this following the first presidential debate and we thought it was pretty effective, and i hope you agree. but we want to hear from swing state voters only. if you are a supporter of mitt romney, it's the same line. if you are a supporter of president obama, the same phone line as the first segment. like we said before, if you are in a swing state, you are getting the commercials constantly on the air and the candidates visiting you constantly. here is a map from the new york post this morning and it shows the swing states. nevada, colorado, and even new

mexico, and iowa, wisconsin, michigan, ohio, pennsylvania, new hampshire, virginia, north carolina, and florida. if you live in one of these swing states, we want to hear from you during this next segment and your opinion and all that kind of stuff. so go ahead and dial in now and we want to show you just a little more from last night's state. this is on the topic of libya. [video clip] >> when you look at what has happened just in the last few weeks, the u.s. ambassador out to say this was because of a protest of a youtube video. it took the president two weeks to announce this was a terrorist attack. he went to the u.n. talked about the youtube video six times. if we are hit by terrorists, we will call it what it is, a terrorist attack. our ambassador in tehran has a

marine detachment guarding him. should we not have the same for our ambassador in benghazi, a place where we knew there was a al qaeda cell with arms? this is becoming more troubling by the day. now they're trying to blame the romney-ryan ticket for making this an issue. >> i will be very specific. number one, this lecture on embassy security, the congressman cut embassy security in his budget by $300 million below what we asked for. so much for the embassy security. number two, governor romney, before he even knew that our ambassador was killed, he was out making political statements and was panned by the media around the world. and this talk about weakness, i don't understand what my. friend is my. >> what were you first told about the attack?

why were people talking about protests when people in the consulate's first saw armed men attacking at the fence, there were no protestors? guest: i went on what we were told by the intelligence community. they told us that. as they learned more facts about exactly what happened, they changed their assessment. that's why there's also an investigation headed by a leading diplomat from the reagan years who is doing an investigation into whether there were any lapses cannot what they worked, so they will never happen again. >> but they wanted more security. >> we were not told that they wanted more security. at the time, we said exactly what the intelligence community told us that they knew. that was the assessment. as the intelligence community changed their view, we made it clear that they changed their view.

that's why i said we will get to the bottom of it. usually during the crisis we pull together as a nation. but even before we knew what happened to the ambassador, the governor was holding a press conference. that's not presidential leadership. host: susan page, her article this morning in "usa today" -- at the bottom of this page is a take on martha raddatz.

that's this morning in usa today. in the next segment, swing state voters only. we have divided the lines between mitt romney supporters, president obama supporters, and independents. we begin with kim in the swing state of virginia on our mitt romney line. caller: good morning, c-span. host: what did you think of the

debate last night? caller: i was very degraded watching our politicians laughing and smirking at each other when they should be working together. enough about that. i just want these politicians to realize that they work for the american people and they should reason together. all of them should work closely. i know we all have different opinions, but they need to reason together to get the job done. and i just wanted to let them know that they're not fooling us. look at ryanden last night and say when you cut the funding to the embassy by $300 million and the looked right at him and said you wonder why we cannot send security over there? but i watched the house ask this

man, the undersecretary of state, if the funding was there and she said it was. that was wednesday. host: your point? caller: i hope the american people pull together and do the right thing and i want our politicians to reason together. thank you, romney and ryan, for bringing that to the table. host: on our independent line is betty from florida, in davenport. caller: how are you, peter? i called a month ago. host: i remember you are the retired nurse. i got a nasty phone call after that. caller: jerry does not never brother, but he has a son.

he turned 97 this last saturday. we had a big party at one of our fancy restaurants. host: that's terrific. i will see what my mother thinks about a young man, ok? caller: don't be fooled. i met him when he was 85 and i was 59. the love of my life. host: that's terrific, betty. what did you think of the debate? you are calling on the independent line. are you still undecided? caller: we both voted yesterday for obama. you are going to think this is funny, but my decision came with the last debate.

the reason was the minute that mitt romney said he was not going to cut the one precentors, . i listened to all the channels and read all the papers. there's one thing i thought my six children and to break the grandchildren and grandchildren is you don't lie. and that was a big lie. jerry, when we got together 12 years ago, was a republican. i was an independent and i have been a republican. we have kind of, each time we vote, we say we may as well not vote because you are going to cancel. out cancel.

because we are going to cancel out each other's votes. like.his time we voted a lik needed to go down and get a florida id and then i remembered that he already had a passport, so he was able to vote. there are some things i like on one side and some things i like on the other. but i decided to not change course in the middle of the stream. host: was there a line for the early voting? caller: no, i voted through the mail. and my daughter is here in florida. she just came in for my 80th birthday.

she is 60 years old and followed a man in the park. she got your absentee ballots after she came from michigan. i hate to tell my kids how to vote. i asked to she voted for and she said obama. i said all right. when i get social security every month, i say thank you jesus. i am not a church person, and i keep my believed to myself. i am protestant, lutheran. my mother was from ireland. she was from the catholic side and she grew up with -- we grew

up with a wonderful woman but she had a hard time when they were fighting so bad against the catholics -- under the catholics. now it has surprised me that my husband voted for obama. people can live together and i know they can get along. i have two biracial children and they get along fine. this is just a beautiful world. if i died tomorrow, i will die happy. host: that was betty in davenport, florida. we look for talking to you in another 30 days. next is nancy in toledo, ohio, on our obama line. caller: hi, peter. i wanted to tell you that i am going to be 72 in january.

i was born handicapped. i am one of the 47%. i worked almost 30 years of my life and am now on social security. i was on social security disability. but i took responsibility for my life and worked 30 years. i raised a son who is now a social worker. but i want to bring up some things last night about paul ryan, talking about the deficit. he voted for everything that bush -- in the bush administration. he helped make this deficit. and then he says our children are going to suffer a. why was he not thinking about that? if you go on youtube you can

find tapes of president franklin delano roosevelt who tells about saying theycans, say can do this or that better. they're not point to do it better. paul ryan wants to take our social security and medicare away. he is a supporter -- his hero was ion rand, an atheist. but now he wants to tell everybody is catholic. rand was an atheist and ryan gave out her books to all of his staff and as christmas presents to his friends and family. he is saying anything that he can say to win over hearts and

minds, but he is not going to do it any better. host: that is nancy in toledo. another call from sandusky, ohio. greg is on the air. caller: i come from a republican background, so that's where my support comes from for mitt romney and paul ryan. in regard to the debate, i think paul ryan was a little bit more smooth about explaining himself, but i believe joe biden seemed a little more believable, because it seemed he was talking about his own convictions and something he believed in, whereas ryan was explaining his ideas, if you know what i mean. i think the biggest thing is that we the people have to make these politicians accountable and not just put our hope and one man or one individual, that

we have to be accountable and show them they have to be accountable to us. host: you say you are a republican by heritage. caller: by family. host: do you feel strongly toward the romney-ryan ticket? caller: i am unclear about them. they have not really gotten into depth about the things i care ouabout. i cannot blame obama for everything. i have a long-term memory. some people have short-term memory. i see what has happened over the past four years and past 10 years. i want them to explain more i will. support will. i would like them to tell me how they will carry out their plans. obama did that when he was

coming into office, more of a surface idea. i want to know the actual steps you will take to get where you want to be. then i will be convinced that i'm on the right ticket. host: what do you do? caller: medical profession, a nurse. host: when you talk to your colleagues at the hospital in forever it is that you work, what do you hear about the health care act? caller: it's a funny ticket, because some health-care providers think that obamacare is something that is going to give away health care. i don't feel that way. but they feel health care will be given away and more people will be using benefits and racking up big bills in the hospital and it will affect costs.

i don't necessarily see it that way. we have already had programs for many years where individuals without income can get prorated on their health care bills based upon their income. host: that was greg in ohio on our support mitt romney line. another call from ohio, this is gainesville, independent mind, les. caller: good morning. i'm leaning more towards obama than romney. the reason why is because when i was looking back over the last four years, the things i really noticed about the first two years of the obama administration is there were able to get the affordable care act taken care of. no matter what people think, at least they tried to address the situation of the rising oak terrace costs. then he was able to get the stimulus bill passed. -- at least they tried to address the situation of the rising health-care costs.

and l.e.d. was able to stop the economy from getting any worse. in 2010 when the republican party took control of the house, the first thing they said wwas they would try to do anything in their power to stop the obama administration from doing anything progressive. that is one thing that has not been addressed very much in this race, the republican backlash, to hinder our country from getting better. host: what did you think of last night's debate? caller: they both did their job well. thus president biden did everything he could to stem the problems that have been going on and stood his ground very well. paul ryan did well for the young man that he is and the experience that he has. he would be a good candidate. host: the democratic national

committee chair debbie wasserman schultz said that the vice- president biden clearly and decisively won.

that is from debbie wasserman schultz. the republican national committee has put out a commercial. [video clip] >> it is never too early to speak out about our bellies which values. let me tell you about the mitt romney that i know. >> incredible. >> you both saw benjamin netanyahu hold up the picture of a bomb with a red line through it. >> thank heavens we have the sanctions in place, and it is in spite of their opposition. all i have to point to is the results. they are four years closer to a nuclear weapon. look, did they come in and inherit a bad situation? absolutely. we are going in the wrong

direction. slower than last year, and that was slower than the year before. august was slower than it was in july. >> the republican national committee is responsible for the content of this advertisement. host: next up on "washington journal," getting your reaction to the debate, back. ohio. your opinion of last night? caller: last night was awesome. i think vice president joe biden did an awesome job. last week when the debate was with the president of the united states, president barack obama and governor mitt romney, mitt romney was very rude. he was rude to the president.

he was rude to america. i am one of the 47%. i am 55 years old. i started working when i was 16. i got disabled eight years ago. when i was on disability, when i found out he could try to work, i tried to work for myers department store. unless the four days. my knees gave all on me. i used to be a mortgage broker. i tried to stand to be a cashier. it was awful. i felt awful. i felt like i could not contribute to my income. i could not contribute to help as a grandmother with my grandchildren, and to consider by a republican that i am a moocher, someone that wants to

take advantage of the system, it is appalling. host: beth do you think president obama should have brought up the 47% issue at his debate? caller: yes, he should have, but he did not, and it is over. as far as the grinning and laughing, i feel the democrats are darned if they do, darned if they do not. mitt romney did the grinning. he cut people off. the person who was the in the -- when they debated, you know? he was very rude to the one moderator. he was rude to him. now they are beating up on joe

biden because he was upfront, open and honest. host: beth, if you could hang on, i want to get another ohio caller, ronald in columbus on the support mitt romney line. ronald, good morning. what is your reaction? caller: i would like to say the lady on the line has a strong point because he was grinning also, and they tried to make it such a big issue about one doing something and the other one not. i would like to say day are not being exact with what they are -- and they are not being

exactly what they are saying. i believe they are flying with everything they are saying. host: who is lying? caller: once they get in, they will switch everything around. host: who are you supporting for president right now? caller: i am in the middle. i am not sure, because nobody wants to give a definite answer. is this kind of hard when you have one question and they give you the answer to something else or answer with a question. host: that was ronald and beth, both from ohio, and up next is alexis on the independent line. caller: yes, i have been registered as an independent for a long time.

host: who did you vote for in 2008? caller: i voted for president obama in 2008 and i will definitely vote for him again. host: why? caller: just like people have said, and others want to ignore the fact that when he took office the mud slide was in process. as we all know, you cannot stop a mud hole to a mud slide, with a bucket. -- hole -- a mudslide, with a bucket. he did what he could, but it might take eight years for it to actually stop and try to rebuild, or maybe the mud slide will solidify with everything he puts forth. if it is not him, it has to be a

consensus. it has to be an effort by both sides of the aisle. the way the republicans have from the beginning -- you know, there were statements made. they said they were going to move noama's every matter what. well, they should not be in office. that does not represent the people, the american people that want their lives to be better. it has been so hard to make from paycheck-to-paycheck. i am a single mother with twins. i am 64. i have 21 years on my daughters. i am so happy i can keep them on my insurance. when has a pre-existing

condition. that was my greatest fear, that when she turned 21, i could not help her anymore. that is a huge problem for me that he and his administration alleviated. i am 64. i am close to retirement. no, they're not going to interfere with mine, but there is a lot right behind me that are going to suffer if the republicans get their way to privatize and gut. host: is north carolina still a swing state? do you see a lot of commercials? caller: yes, sir, but the only reason i do not is because i watch a lot of c-span and pbs.

the commercial stations are frightening. host: thank you for your time this morning. we appreciate it. if you watched the debate last night or watched it at c- span.org, you watched the spin room, which we always error in its entirety, where everybody goes to say why their candidate was the best or not. david axelrod and epilepsy -- ed gillespie were in the spin room talking about their candidate. [video clip] >> he ran from every question no matter how hard the moderator and the vice president pushed. $2ran away from the trillion plan, could not explain

their medicare plan, and the fact that it planned to raise expenses on senior citizens over time. he criticized the stimulus plan and recovery act that was instrumental in stopping the free-fall the economy was in when the president's came in, and was sheepish when the vice president said congressman ryan had written letters asking for money from that program because he said it would help the wisconsin economy and create jobs in wisconsin. i thought congressman ryan was on the run from the start. the one thing he did say is they will not make a commitment to leave afghanistan in 2014. that he did make clear. it was one of the only things he made clear tonight. i thought it was a decisive victory.

>> again, i think paul ryan was very much in command. he did not hear his voice rising in frustration, where that kind of thing. i think voters saw a very clear contrast, not only in style, but in substance. the fact is when you look at what paul said that the end, if the president is reelected, 20 million americans might lose health insurance, and according to the congressional budget office, 7.5 million americans will be effected with medicare. we will continue to have a chronically high on employment rate and a deficit for as far as the eye can see. it is a clear contrast from the ann romney/ryan budget. -- from the ann romney/ryan budget.

and all of these issues, it is a pretty clear choice. host: donna says from twitter, the democrats think biden won, the republicans think brian won, what a surprise. from "the washington post" -- at times, mr. joe biden struck us as condescending.

>> that is the "washington post " leading editorial. the next call comes from ed in cleveland, ohio. caller: this is ted. i am a supporter of mitt romney. what i would like to say is what i watched last night several times joe biden had to interrupt him left and right, and that seems condescending. when joe biden said "finding what i say," i would like to heard paul ryan say does that mean you meant when you stood in front of people "i want to put you all in chains." that is it. thank you for c-span.

host: another call from all file this morning. deborah. -- call from ohio this morning. deborah. caller: i am definitely an obama supporter. it comes down to planned parenthood. when i was 20 i found myself single and pregnant, and i went to planned parenthood, and they helped me figure out a bird plan, how to get a car seat, a gynecologist birth plan, how to get a car seat, which it birth plan, a gynecologist -- birth plan, a gynecologist, a car seat, and now my baby is in her third year of college. i had no health insurance. i have no idea what to do with a baby. i was a very young 20.

they helped me become a responsible parent, and i think other women should have that option. they do more than provide abortion. when it comes to that issue, there is no way i could ever vote for mitt romney or paul ryan. host: what did you hear in the debate last night that you like, deborah? caller: i think i am fearful of a romney presidency. they do not sound like the big, bad ogres in all of the commercials. ryan sounds reasonable, but i do not like his ideas. when you listen to the political commercials, they sound like the most terrifying people in the world. we are made to think the world is going to end if either one of these people become president.

i do not think it is going to be that bad. i think what ryan said in the end is it comes down to the kind of country you wanted to be, but i do not like the romney/paul ryan vision. host: when you turn on the television in cincinnati, it is a wall-to-wall political commercials? caller: it is. i tried to watch c-span and pbs, and even "keeping up with -- just to get away with -- from the political commercials. it what you do in cincinnati? caller: i work with the graphic

designer. that is another reason. ohio is and at work state, which means they could fire you unless you are a protected status. i gave my current job a two-week notice because i am moving to a higher position, and they drop you like a bad habit. i worked hard. i want people to have to fire people for cause, not just pack up and move or drop people like a dirty dishrag. it hurt, but i am going on to better things, and that is why i called you because i have the next week off. host: let's get another ohio caller on the line. joining our conversation is sarah, a mitt romney supporter in canton, ohio. what did you think of the debate.

caller: it was interesting. i would like to start by saying good morning. the caller that is in the conversation, like her, i think the commercials are ridiculous. i think that it is sad because a lot of people -- that is as far as their support will go, what they see going back and forth on the television. i think if more people would look to the issues and read it on the issues, people would see things in a different light. host: sarah, why are you supporting the romney/ryan ticket? caller: i believe in their plan for small business. i am a stay-at-home mom, but the small business issue affects my

husband a great deal. in the last four years, with his intern's alone we have seen drastic changes with copays going from $75 to $100. it is drastic and it is frightening. i think the obama administration had their four years. i think it is time to get somebody else in there for a different four-year term. host: debra, what do you think about that from cincinnati? caller: i would have to ask the question, it is that president obama's fault? is the issue with the co pay president obama's fault, or is it with insurance companies that are doing everything they can to prevent from keeping people's cost low? i think that is a problem president obama is trying to solve, and i think he has done a

pretty good job providing better health care. if we had the public option, her husband would not have to worry about providing health insurance for the people. that is something that will be taken care of in a different matter and would not be such a big difference -- expense. caller: not to interrupt you, but my husband was laid off for a short time. when my daughter had to receive a vaccination for being a premature baby, i was flat out told by my pediatrician, if you still have your insurance, we could give your daughter a vaccine right now. since your husband is laid off, and you are with federal-funded

care, we cannot give your daughter her shot right now. so, i think if a lot of people open their highest to the fact that -- their eyes to the fact that public health care what hinder us. have you looked into canada's health plan? what they are projecting is similar to what canada deals with right now, and the care that we would receive would not be as good if all of us received the same care. it would be overwhelming and create a very large debt. caller: that is not true. i have a friend of mine who lives in canada. her third child was born with seizures. everything was taken care of. everything from his medicine to his therapy, to home care. they have that taken care of. the only thing they had to pay

for was parking at the hospital. yes, she says she pays higher in texas, but it is worth it because the onus of their child did not bankrupt their -- the illness of their child did not bankrupt their family. we are not the freest country in the world that people can be indebted by medical debt. it is positively barbaric to ask people to beg for health care. i think what president obama is proposing would actually help you. i cannot imagine -- i had my daughter on medicaid, and she did not go without any of her shots or her health care. she is a healthy kid today. they helped her with her asthma care. i do not know why your daughter was not able to get her vaccination. i would really like to know, but i think what president obama is proposing would prevent that from happening to you.

host: serra in canton, last word. caller: it has been nice to talk to you, but at the same time i'm very happy i have private insurance because my family receives the care that i think i deserve. on that note, with what romney is proposing, it will give our states -- do you not think people that work around you are more qualified to make a decision than someone in washington who does not see how they could help you as an individual? host: we will leave it there. that is deborah and sarah. we appreciate your time on "washington journal." we will take this call from nevada on our support president obama line. what did you think of last night's debate?

caller: i am here in nevada. i am 25 years old. obama-care has done a lot for me, just the fact that my parents can keep me on their medical insurance, it is a big help for me. i was so worried about going out there alone and not having that medical insurance, what am i going to do? what if i get sick? emergency rooms are filled these days, and not only that, any doctor you go to, they ask you if you have medical insurance, and that was one of my biggest worry is. i do not think obama-care is that bad. if you think about it helping people go on to their future.

host: what are you studying? caller: i am going to become a lawyer. i still have a little ways to go. host: good luck to you. in just a minute, we want to switch phone lines and get your reaction to last night's presidential debate. we did this during the first debate, and we want to try it again, hearing from undecided voters only undecided voters are that -- only. undecided voters are that 2%-to- 10% that are truly undecided. partisans, stand aside for a minute so we can hear why people are undecided. undecided voters only, 202 is

the area code. we have divided the lines evenly. host: undecided voters only, so we get a chance to hear from those folks. here in "the new york post," we show this picture earlier of the swing states. they have taken the polls from real clear politics. they aggregate the polls and air bridge them, and here is where the battle lines stand according to real clear politics. in ohio, we spoke to a lot of callers from ohio, 47.6% for the president.

46.3% 4 mitt romney. again, these are the averages. that is from "the new york post"

this morning. a reminder, undecided voters only for the snag -- next segment and we want to know why you are undecided. last night there was some talk in the vice-presidential debate about being misquoted. [video clip] mitt romney is a car guy. let me tell you about the mitt romney i know. this was a guy, i was talking to family in massachusetts the other day. their kids were hit in a car crash, four of them, and to the will of them were paralyzed the romney -- paralyzed. the romney's did not know them. he asked if he could come over on christmas, brought the boys gifts, and he said i know you're struggling, do not worry about college, i will pay for it. mitt romney does not tell these

stories. mark told me the story, and he said it was not the cash out, it was the time. this is a man that gave 30% of his income to charity, more than the two of us combined. he cares about 100% of the people in this country. i think the vice president knows that sometimes words did not come out of your mouth the right way. [laughter] >> i always say what i mean. >> we want everybody to succeed. we want to get people out of poverty into the middle class. that is what we will push for. host: here is the front page of "the wall street journal" this morning.

host: mr. biden frequently interrupted his challenger. mr. ryan was often more honest . just a take from the analysis in "the wall street journal" this morning. undecided voters only. ed in south carolina. what are the issues that are important to you and why are you undecided? caller: i was undecided, but i decided in the debate last night. congressman ryan is not a leader. he is a follower. he just says ignorant things.

he did not answer any questions. he stumbled over a lot of his words. biden on point, asking all of the questions. the people that are not getting it, you have people walking barefoot, no clothes, shopping in walmart, and they will vote republican. you have a man trying to help them. host: we will leave your comments there and go to john in new hampshire. john, why are you undecided right now? caller: good morning. i am right down the street from where romney vacations in new hampshire. host: why are you and decided?

-- undecided? caller: i have not heard clear plans. i'm a laid-off executive, struggling to find a job making what i was making before, and even beyond that thinking about a different career because i do not know if that position is possible any more. i am hearing a lot of name- calling. the commercials are ridiculous there seems to be no direction. -- ridiculous. there seems to be no direction. i feel with another four years, it will be a stalemate. it is a shame that the country will have to endorse something like we did the last four years. i am not blaming obama for it. i think both parties are to blame, but i have not heard either party come up with a solution to fix that problem, or

what we're going to do going forward in the future. i am disgusted actually. host: who did you vote for in 2008? caller: john mccain. host: thank you for calling in. dennis, in ohio, in the birthplace of neo armstrong. why are you undecided -- neil armstrong. why are you undecided? caller: i watched the debate. host: did it help bring clarity to you? caller: no. the vice president last night kept interrupting his cohort there, and he laughed a lot. i do not know if he thought the issues were funny, but as far as

and his running mate, obama says that he has created a lot of jobs, shows that unemployment goes down, but he does not say whether that was manufacturing jobs, flipping hamburgers someplace, and his cohort says if he is elected he will create 12,000 new jobs right away. well, are they in manufacturing, or are they going to make government bigger than it is? neither party is clear on anything, as far as i'm concerned, and as far as foreign policy, every time a foreign country sneezes the united states runs over and wipes their nose. they have spent billions of dollars over there in a war that

they are not going to win. so, i can now see stayed over there and getting soldiers killed for nothing. that is about what i think of either party. host: that is dennis in ohio, still undecided. leonard is from new mexico. good morning to you. leonard, are you with us? last chance. we're going to move to las vegas. dennis. why are you undecided and what are the issues that are important to you? caller: i am 31 years old. i voted for bush, bush, and john mccain. i want to mention that right now the status quo with president obama is not quite going

exactly with what he said he was going to do. he has done a few good things, but if we keep the status quo, i do not see things getting better. with romney's his views are so different, if we switch to another president, could we get worse or better? i live in vegas. it is a gamble. what bothers me is that in our great country is this the best two candidates that we could possibly take to become the commander-in-chief of the greatest nation in the world? i do not know why we cannot get anything bipartisan, and get things salt. it just drives me crazy. -- solved. it just drives me crazy. i worked in health care. i work as a nurse.

the chaos between doctors, nurses, and people not knowing what they are going to do, has caused a big stir up, and it is a catch-22. either/or -- it will get better, or worse, it does not matter who is president, and that is what keeps me in the middle. host: did last night put the debate help you find any clarity -- last night's debate help you find any clarity? caller: with the debate last night, i could not see either one of those gentlemen becoming a commander in chief. think about any other president. could you see any one of those gentlemen becoming the president of the united states? that is what scares me the most first off, you are the commander in chief. -- the most.

first off, you are the commander in chief, president of the largest economy, the best military, the best country, and if something were to happen to our president, are one of these guys able to step up and do the job? i do not think either/or could do it. no matter what they say back- and-forth really is irrelevant. host: there is another presidential debate tuesday. this had lying in "usa today" this morning -- "obama heads to virginia to train for round two." mitt romney is headed to boston to do prep work for the tuesday night debate at hofstra university on long island. it will begin in 9:00 p.m.. our preview program will begin at 7:00 p.m. eastern time on c-

span. of course, as we have done during the campaign season, we will get your reaction after the debate late into the night. for those on the west coast, you noticed we were live late last night, taking your calls and getting your reaction. we will continue to do that the next morning on "washington journal." by the way, if you missed any of last night's debate, or send a question or comment to one of your colleagues or friends, go to c-span.org. at our debate hub, you can take any of it, quit it, and sent it out -- clipit, and

send it out. on the nights of the debate, it is a dashboard of the deal. you can watch the proper work live at the college is being held at -- the preparatory work like a college it is being held at. we have the spin room. you can watch all of that on the night of the debate, and now, you can watch it on line. c-span.org, the debate hub, and watch those from this season and last season. scott garrett florida. what are the issues that are important to you -- scott. florida. what are the issues that are important to you and why are you and decided? caller: social security, medicare. they both talked about social security.

the other one is going to cancel it, the other one is going to ruin it, and that is all you hear from each other's mouth each party makes sure they make a strategic mouth. each party makes a statement that -- mouth. each party makes a statement that they are not going to cancel social security. obviously social security has to be saved. it is just about how we will go about saving it. are we going to give up the money now and make interest to make more money for social security to keep it alive? who has the best programs to keep it running? on social security's and medicare, it seems like scare tactics. you need to have each one. they both will push it through, and they both keep saying they both think the other one will

cancel the next generation from medicare. as far as the fed's, they have to work bipartisan. i have heard a lot of joe biden saying "de" and -- "they" and paul ryan saying "we." host: they mentioned medicare in the debate. [video clip] medicare, these are indisputable fact. i look at what social security and medicare did for my family. medicare was there for my family. when my father died, social

security helped my mom go back to college. she paid all for taxes on the promise that these programs will be there for her. we will keep those promises. the best way to do it is reform it for my generation. if you can reform it for my generation to the people 54 and the low, you can insure that its stays -- and below, you can insure that it stays. they have not put a solution of the table. they will tell you about vouchers. here's what we will do, give guaranteed coverage options that you cannot be denied, including traditional medicare. choose your plan, and the medicare subsidizes your premiums. total out-of-pocket coverage for the poor and sick. we would rather have 50 million future seniors determine how medicare is delivered to them instead of 50 bureaucrats

deciding where, if, when they get it. >> let's talk about medicare. we saved $760 billion and put it back into medicare. we cut the cost of medicare. we stopped over-paying. ama supported what we did. aarp endorsed what we did. they want to wipe all of this out. it also gave more benefits. any senior out there, ask yourself, do you have more benefits today? you do. if you are near the doughnut hole, you have $600 more. they wipe all of this out and medicare becomes insolvent in 2016, number one. number 2 below, a guaranteed benefit, it is a voucher. when the congressman had his first voucher program, cbo said it would cost $6,400 a year more

for every senior 55 and below when they got there. he knew that, yet he got all the republican party to vote for it. governor romney, knowing that, said he would sign it. who do you believe? ama, me, a guy who has fought his life for this, or a guy who would put in place a plan that no in the eds $6,400 a year more to the cost of medicare? now that have a new plan. folks come off all your instincts on this one. host: here is the front page of "the washington times." here is the front page of "usa today."

this is richard wolf's article. we are talking to undecided voters for this section of "washington journal." yolanda, columbus, ohio. why are you undecided, and did the vice presidential debate move your needle at all? caller: i would have to say the

war on mankind. i voted for obama in his first term. he promised transparency and never delivered. all the illegals here. i think this is destroying the nation. if obama gets a second term, this will be god destroyed the nation, because people can see him in action. obama is a criminal. he has been lying about mitt romney and paul ryan so much that they have been conditioned. they think of these decent men as liars, but they are not. host: again, we are talking to undecided voters. yolanda seemed to be decided. gene, next fall, tennessee. why are you in undecided voter? caller: 91 stated what they are

going to do for this country, -- neither one stated what they're going to do for this country. i have been voting since i was 18. i have voted both ways. i'd vote for the best person. through the issues, a lot of us are concerned about social security. i have good insurance. i do not know which way i'm going to go on this, but insurance is important to older people. social security has been around forever. they are stealing the money. they want to know which we should find out where the money is going to -- we should find out where the money is going to. i have kids right now, in their 40's, and they have to figure out how they're going to vote.

i an not going to tell you either way. they talk about jobs. a dollar an hour jobs are not making it any more -- $8 and our jobs are not making it any more. they have the stated what they would do. healthcare, social security, then our military, which has gone downhill -- they need to consider this stuff, which is going to cost us. we know that. host: who did you vote for in 2008? caller: obama. i do not know. i may, or it may not. i am looking for a better future. i think all of the independences out there are looking for a better future. host: michael. oregon. did last night's vice

presidential debate move your needle at all? caller: not quite. i do not understand why people of wealth are getting tax cuts, when they are -- when there are citizens, such as myself, high and low-income. like the man from tennessee said $8 an hour is not making it, and i am making $9. i have two children. i am driving without insurance just because i cannot afford it. host: what kind of work do you do? caller: i worked in a metal fabrication, warehouse work. it baffles me. if we are in such a debt crisis, and there is that 1% that has more money than the whole

country combined, why are they getting big tax cuts, when it seems like they would be able to do something about what is going on. host: given what you just said, does it make you want to support president obama? caller: he has said four years. it does not seem like much has changed. i know he did inherit a tough situation. i cannot deny that. it is hard to trust any kind of politician. there are words being thrown either way. it is really hard to differentiate the truth from lies. host: that is michael in oregon calling in, on our undecided voters line. thank you. we have one more section of calls.

this time we want to hear from first time voters only. if you are just turning 18, if you have never voted before, if for whatever reason this election has sparked you to vote, we are putting down the screen,/region. -- divided by region. tell us why yo are a first-time voter and what this election means to you. "the new york times" leading editorial --

that is the opening paragraph in "the new york times" leading editorial, and here is the front page. it was a young man jousting with the veteran, alive for much of the contract construction.

that is just a little bit of the news analysis of last night debate from mr. weisman. they discussed jobs. first time voters only, we want to hear from you about last night's debate, but first from the debate, a little bit on the job situation. [video clip] >> i do not know how long it will take. we can, and we'll get it under 6%. let's look at where we were when we came to office. the economy was in free fall.

the great recession hit. 9 million people lost their jobs. 1.7 -- 1 $0.60 trillion lost. we have to ask -- we had to act for the middle-class. we had to rescue general motors, and make sure we cut taxes for the middle class. when that happened, what did mitt romney do? he said the lead detroit go bankrupt. he said let foreclosures hit the bottom. it should not be surprising for a guy who says 47% of the american people are not willing to take responsibility for their own lives. my friend in washington said 30% of the people in america are takers. these people are my mom and dad, the neighbors i grew up with, who pay more effective tax than governor romney pays. they are veterans, and veterans

who are -- and people fighting in afghanistan war "not paying any taxes." >> joe and i are from similar towns. he is from scranton, pa., i'm from janesville, wisconsin. do you know what the unemployment rate is in scranton, pennsylvania? >> i sure do. >> to date inherit a tough situation, certainly. but we are going the wrong direction. the economy is limping along. is slower than it was last year, and last year was slower than the year before. job growth in september was slower than august, and august was slower than july. 23 million americans are struggling for work. 50% of americans are living in poverty. -- 15% of americans are living

in poverty. that is not what the recovery looks like. we need real reforms, and that is what we are proposing, a five-point plan. did america energy independent in a decade. how people who are working to get the skills for the jobs they want to control the debt crisis. make more things in america, and sell them overseas. champion small businesses. did not raise taxes on small businesses, because they are our job creators. host: back here live, we are talking to first time voters only in this section of "washington journal." first, the front page of "the washington post." you can see it there. first call, parker, colorado. good morning. why are you a first-time voter?

caller: i just turned 18. host: congratulations. are you looking forward to it? caller: i am because this is one of the most crucial elections. we either go with obama, who is extremely left wing in my opinion, or we go with romney who is more right wing. as for the debate last night, it was kind of showing that joe biden was not putting out facts. he had experienced and was able to press ryan while, but ryan had more effect. host: at this point, you are supporting the romney/brian ticket? caller: